


between the devil and the deep blue sea

by sassymordechais (archiveofwebs)



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Archivist!Jon, Kraken!Peter, M/M, Magic!Jon, MerMay Prompt Fill, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Past and Present, Prompt Fill: Capture/Shore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:42:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24213856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/archiveofwebs/pseuds/sassymordechais
Summary: Jon knew all about Eyes but these were by far the most dangerous.-There was a large...thing on the shore. It was huge, several houses wide and several buildings tall. It was a mass of ocean colored flesh and it writhed on the dirty shoreline. Floating on top of it’s skin was a layer of clouds. A marine layer. It seemed to be forming a protective shield over the creature.Kraken, the Archivist provided.Fascinating, his own mind replied.
Relationships: Peter Lukas/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25





	between the devil and the deep blue sea

**Author's Note:**

> Couple of fic notes:
> 
> Italics means past. Normal is present.
> 
> If there is normal text in the italics, it's the Archivist speaking. And vice versa.
> 
> -
> 
> This is...something alright. This was not at all the intention of this fic when I started typing but here we are. Definitely gonna be it's own series cause I've got a lot more to write!
> 
> Times like these are when I curse my writing style...this clocked in at 11 pages.
> 
> I combined two prompts: Capture and Shore!

Eyes.

That was what drew Jon in. 

Eyes that…

No. Thinking about them was dangerous. 

It was a dangerous thought.

Those eyes were dangerous. 

It was dangerous.

The man holding his hand, skin cool, cooing in his ear about how lovely he looked, was dangerous.

Jon knew all about Eyes but these were by far the most dangerous. 

-

_There was a large...thing on the shore. It was huge, several houses wide and several buildings tall. It was a mass of ocean colored flesh and it writhed on the dirty shoreline. Floating on top of it’s skin was a layer of clouds. A marine layer. It seemed to be forming a protective shield over the creature._

Kraken, _the Archivist provided._

Fascinating, _his own mind replied._

_Inching closer, he rotated his hand, a soft green glow forming. As the glow faded, a gear appeared, each notch holding a symbol in the middle. Turning his hand again, he continued his motions until a cloud symbol was selected. Thrusting out his index and middle finger, he ignited the spell and waved the gear off._

‘Forsaken: Beings of loneliness, monsters of the sea. Low in number but mighty. Most of the main family’s members are cast away from not meeting the harsh and isolating standards that The One Alone requires of them. On current record, the largest Forsaken is Peter Lukas.

Classification: Kraken.’

Oh isn’t that delightful. We have ourselves a Lukas.

_Shut up._

_The Archivist wasn’t wrong though. Jon couldn’t stop the Archivist’s View, already seeing several Eyes blinking into existence._

_Stop. We don’t want to scare him._

Are you curious?

_Yes, but given that if he so much as lashes out we both die, I think we should be care-_

_“Ah!” As he found himself lifted into the air, he paled when he noticed a form coming into view from where he had once been._

_“No! Stop!”_

I think not.

_“Archivist! Don’t!”_

_A flash._

_Wind in his ears._

_Arms._

-

Jon sighed as he felt the man’s grip on his waist tighten. His hat was pulled low and the glasses Jon wore prevented him from fully seeing the man.

“Dearest, won’t you look.”

“No.”

Stepping in front of him and turning around quickly, Peter Lukas smiled something crooked.

-

_The second that Jon hit the ground (dropped from the arms that held him too tight for just a second), he was pulled away from the creature by tethers of green, before his whole world melted._

_In seconds, the dirty shoreline disappeared and he was surrounded by the Archive._

_“I told you not to scare it!”_

He shouldn’t have touched you. I was only doing what I must.

“ _You can’t just manifest! I need to go back, make sure you didn’t tear something! Think ne-”_

_“Jonathan?”_

_Standing up straight, Jon turned his head slowly toward the voice._

_“Jonah. Hello.”_

_“Hello. Is everything- Archivist?”_

_“Was just leaving.”_

I think not.

“ _Archivist!”_

_“Jonathan hush.” The long haired man turned to face the ethereal mass of eyes and bowed his head. “I do apologize for his behavior, but I am quite concerned about your manifestation. Did something happen?”_

_“Nothing ha-”_

Jonathan decided to try to be nice to a Lukas.

_“-ppened! Stop interrupting me.”_

_“A Lukas? What? Where?” Despite his composure, Jon could make out slight anger behind Jonah’s glasses._

_That was common among them._

_Glasses._

Eyes are the window to the soul.

_Shaking his head, Jon barely caught the faint glow of gold painting over Jonah’s neck as he turned to face the Archivist again._

_“Jonah, no. I’m fine.”_

_“Which Lukas?”_

_“Jonah, it was nothing.”_

The Kraken, Peter Lukas.

_The glow grew brighter and Jon bit his lip at the sight of gold tinting Jonah’s hands, the faint shimmering of a wire between his long fingers._

_“I see.”_

_“Jonah, Jonah!” Ignored._

_A sly smile appeared on Jonah’s face._

_“I see. I am overdue for a visit with th-”_

_“Heart! Enough!” In an instant, Jonah was on one knee, hand over his heart, head bowed._

_“Of course, anything for my Archivist.”_

Whoops.

_“Jonah, Jonah...shit.” Waving his hand at the Archivist and sighing when the being finally disappeared, Jon hurried over to Jonah and tried to bring the man to rise._

_“I apologize. I was out of line.”_

_“No, no. Come on, stand up. I’m not mad at you. You and the Archivist just need to stop mothering me. Nothing happened. The Archivist just startled him and he lifted me into the air.”_

_“He what!”_

_“Jonah, I don’t think he was even awake. He was almost fully washed ashore. I think The One Alone was blocking him from sight but...well…”_

_“Jon...the Forsaken…”_

_“I know Jonah, I know. Let’s just put that out of our mind and focus on something else, please.” The older man looked like he wanted to protest but sighed instead._

_“If you insist. Come, I’ll get Martin to make us tea. I think he’s with Barnabas.”_

_“...I hope you are handling those files, because I refuse to.”_

_-_

As they walked, no one bothered them, no one looked at them.

It was ideal for both of them. 

It was Peter who spoke first, something that didn’t happen often, but Jon suspected that in the broader sense, it was common with him.

“Will you tell me?”

“Hm?”

_A false backing, files behind it. Money lining the bottom._

“Will you tell me what you See?”

“Oh...I uh…”

Looking over at the other man, Jon quickly looked away from Peter’s gaze. 

“Do you see the man across the street? In the red waistcoat? In the lining of it, is a letter. The letter will lead to a lot of problems.”

“Problems for us?”

_For Manifestations?_

“No. Just for those certain humans. However, the person walking up to the apothecary is one of us. Apparently there’s a minor dispute between Choke and Forever Blind again.”

“Interesting.”

“Very. I suspect I will be hearing about it soon from Jonah who was probably told by Fairchild who was gossiping with Rayner.”

“Such is the way with social circles.”

“I believe I’ve heard that your uncle is quite fond of those parlors.”

“That would be him.”

“Peter.”

“Jon.”

“Is-”

“Jon!” 

“Oh, hello Tim.”

-

_I need you to not do anything rash._

Rash?

_Yes, rash. I’m going back to the shore today._

No. Absolutely not. 

_Unless you plan on breaking our deal, then yes. I just want to make sure he’s okay._

We do not mess with Forsaken.

_Just because Jonah and Mordechai Lukas got into a pissing match over Barnabas doesn’t mean I’m going to make an enemy._

Please don’t remind me. Such a shame to Watchers.  
  


_Yes, yes. Oh, he’s still there._

And still a Kraken.

_Hush. Keep your Eyes away._

Bossy, bossy.

_Rolling his (own) eyes, Jon stepped forward, hands raised._

_“Excuse me, can you hear me?”_

_Nothing._

_“My name is Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute.”_

_A stir._

_“I go by Jon, and I am The Archivist of It Knows You.”_

_Heavy fog began to billow in, different from the one that shrouded the Kraken. It was thick and heavy, blocking Jon’s view._

Jon.

_It’s fine. Don’t do anything._

_“Hello?”_

_“Hello.”_

_Jon turned his gaze toward the voice, only to find himself immediately blinded and body twisted away from the Kraken._

_“_ We do not appreciate games, Forsaken.”

“ _I do not play games...they are...hard. I apologize.” The man stepped forward, large sea coat flapping in the fog. He raised his hand to waist length, shook it once, and a thin case appeared._

_“Close your eyes and face me.”_

“We will not.”

_“Okay.” Slipping his eyes closed and ignoring the enraged voice of the Archivist in his mind, Jon turned towards the man. A few moments later, he felt cool hands on his face. He felt his glasses being gently removed and placed in his breast pocket. Those hands returned moments later and when (rough, large, calming) hands left his face, he could feel metal on his face. Unlike the man, it wasn’t cold._

_“You can open them now. It will be okay.”_

_Jon nodded and opened his eyes._

_Oh._

_“Greetings. Peter Lukas.”_

_“Ah. Jon. Jon Sims.”_

_“I know.”_

_-_

“Jon!” 

“Tim.”

“It’s rare to see you out! And you are?” There was a sparkle in Tim’s eye, different from the glow of Asag. 

“Peter.”

“Peter! Nice to meet you! Rarer to see Jon with someone than it is to see him free of the Institute at all.”

“Shut up, Tim.” Timothy Stoker grinned in response, sticking his hand out toward Peter. Peter’s relaxed expression didn’t change, reaching out slowly to shaking Tim’s hand.

“You aren’t being very ni- _Forsaken.”_ There was an edge in Tim’s voice as his eyes began to shift from steel to red. 

“ _Lightless Flame.”_

Tim pulled his hand away, steam rising from it. 

“Jon, what the hell! Do you- of course you do! Does Jonah know? Does anyone know?”

“Yes Tim.”

“Are you being coerced? Can you even-”

“Stop! Tim, what the hell? First of all, he’s a Kraken, not a Siren. And second of all, why are you angry? Where do you even get off asking me something like that?”

“I-”

“I know we didn’t part on the best of terms, but that’s low, even for you. You should know that Watchers and Forsaken have a very long history together. He’s also Mordechai’s great great grandson. If he did anything, Jonah would See both of them down in an instant, if I couldn’t get to them first.”

“...sorry.”

“I know that Asag and The One Alone are on rocky terms, but there’s no reason for you to act like this”

“Jon, I’m sorry.” 

“...” Jon looked away from smoldering eyes, averting his gaze from Peter’s dull ones quickly. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

-

“Are you angry?”

_Yes._

“No. Just...resigned.”

“You know…”

“I thought you weren’t one for games?”

“I’m not. Honest offer.”

“The Archives...they are my home. I belong there in all meanings of that word. It would also be painful for me to be apart from them for that long. I wouldn’t be me. I would lose myself, faster than your tides could turn.”

A roughened thumb rubbed over the top of his hand. 

“Hm.”

In the eerie glow of the moonlight, two rings glinted.

-

Jon?

_I...I know this man._

No we don’t.

_No...I do...I remember him, very clearly._

Then who is he?

_He’s what Mordechai is to Jonah. What…_

No. I refuse. Not us.

_Archivist, we don’t have a choice. This is determined._

I don’t care if he’s to be...that. 

_Enough._

_“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Lukas? Is everything alright? It’s unusual to see a Forsaken in their natural form on land. Granted this shore is rarely come upon, but still.”_

_“Hm. Just a disagreement. Between family members.”_

_“I see. You are alright though, yes?”_

_“Yes. I- oh.”_

_“You most certainly aren’t. Come with me.”_

_“Of course. Anything you say.”_

_Jon startled and turned back to face the man whose hand he had grabbed and began pulling away from the dirty shore line and churning water._

_“Excuse me?”_

_“...nothing.”_

_Jon said nothing in response, moving them further away from the water. Once he was a reasonable distance away from the echoing depths (endless echoes of silence and loneliness and emptiness and fleeting feelings and and and) Jon raised a fist to the air._

I am the Archivist, and I ask for passage for myself and a guest. Destination: The Magnus Institute. 

_“Oh of course dearest Jon! Come in, come in! Michael is out for the day so I’ll be your guide!”_

_“Thank you Helen.” The mirage smiled brightly and waved their flickering hand, beckoning._

_“Please remember to watch all feet, hands, Eyes, and Fog! Welcome to the Helen express!”_

_-_

_I do._

_I do._

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I would love to know what y'all think! I think this was more world building than anything but we got some JonPeter handholding which I'm a huge fan of.
> 
> You can find me on twitter [@sassymordechais](https://twitter.com/sassymordechais) where I do a lot of headcanon talking and previews of fics I'm working on!
> 
> I'm gonna go to sleep now. This is the most time I've ever spent on a fic.


End file.
